Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
OrdoTherapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohort: Theria
Cohort: Eutheria
Cohort: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Laurasiatheria
Cladus: Ferae
Ordo: Carnivora
Subordo: Feliformia
Familia: Felidae
Subfamilia: †Machairodontinae
Tribus: †Metailurini
Genus: Adelphailurus
Species: A. kansensis
Name
Adelphailurus Hibbard, 1934
Vernacular names
Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae and tribe Metailurini[1] which inhabited western North America during the Miocene, living from 10.3 to 5.33 Ma and existing for approximately 4.97 million years. [2]
Taxonomy
Adelphailurus was named by Hibbard (1934). Its type is Adelphailurus kansensis. It was assigned to Felidae by Hibbard (1934) and Carroll (1988); and to Machairodontinae by Martin (1998).[3][4][5]
Morphology
It was a cougar-sized animal and may have had habits similar to those of a cougar. Its body had the same shape as a cougar except for a long and compressed upper canine. This would place this cat into the "false-sabertooth" group. Apart from that Adelphailurus had a retained upper second premolar, which is unusual for a cat.
References
Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
C. W. Hibbard. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37:239-255 [1]
R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
L. D. Martin. 1998. Felidae. Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America (eds. C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs) 1:236-242
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